Filename: RC1063.TXT
Source: "The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception" by Max Heindel
[PAGE 2260]
THE HEART AS AN ANOMALY:
No lesson, though its truth may be superficially assented to, is of any
real value as an active principle of the life until the heart has learned it
in longing and bitterness, and the lesson man must so learn is that what is
not beneficial to all can never be truly beneficial to any. For nearly
2,000 years we have lightly assented with out lips that we should govern our
lives in accordance with such maxims as "Return good for evil." The Heart
urges mercy and love, but the Reason urges belligerent and retaliatory mea-
sures, if not as revenge, at least as a means of preventing a repetition of
hostilities. It is this divorce of head from heart that hinders the growth
of a true feeling of Universal Brotherhood and the adoption of the teachings
of Christ--the Lord of Love.
The mind is the focusing point by means of which the Ego becomes aware of
the material universe. As an instrument for the acquisition of knowledge in
[PAGE 2261]
those realms the mind is invaluable, but when it arrogates to itself the
ROLE of dictator as to the conduct of man to man, it is as through the lens
should say to an astronomer who was in the act of photographing the Sun
through a telescope: "You have me improperly focused. You are not looking
at the Sun correctly. I do not think it is good to photograph the Sun any-
way, and I want you to point me at Jupiter. The rays of the Sun heat me too
much and are liable to damage me."
If the astronomer exercises his will and focuses the telescope as he de-
sires, telling it to attend to its business of transmitting the rays that
strike it, leaving the results to him, the work will proceed well, but if
the lens has the stronger will and the mechanism of the telescope is in
league with it, the astronomer will be seriously hampered in having to con-
tend with a refractory instrument, and the result will be blurred pictures,
of little or no value.
Thus it is with the Ego. It works with a threefold body, which it con-
trols, or should control through the mind. But, sad to say, this body has a
will of its own and is often aided and abetted by the mind, thus frustrating
the purposes of the Ego.
This antagonistic "lower will" is an expression of the higher part of the
desire body. When the division of the Sun, Moon, and Earth took place, in
the early part of Lemurian Epoch, the more advanced portion of
humanity-in-the-making experienced a division of the desire body into a
higher and a lower part. The rest of humanity did likewise in the early
part of the Atlantean Epoch.
This higher part of the desire body become a sort of animal soul. It
built the cerebro-spinal nervous systems and the voluntary muscles, by that
means controlling the lower part of the threefold body until the link of
[PAGE 2262]
mind was given. Then the mind "coalesced" with this animal soul and become
a co-regent.
The mind is thus bound up in desire; is enmeshed in the selfish lower na-
ture, making it difficult for the spirit to control the body. The focusing
mind, which should be the ally of the higher nature, is alienated by and in
league with the lower nature--enslaved by desire.
The law of the Race religions was given to emancipate intellect from de-
sire. The "fear of God" was pitted against "the desires of the flesh."
This, however, was not enough to enable one to become master of the body and
secure its willing co-operation. It became necessary for the spirit to find
in the body another point of vantage, which was not under the sway of the
desire nature. All muscles are expressions of the desire body and a
straight road to the capital, where the traitorous mind is wedded to desire
and reigns supreme.
If the United States were at war with France, it would not land troops in
England, hoping in that way to subjugate the French. It would land its sol-
diers directly in France, and fight there.
Like a wise general, the Ego followed a similar course of action. It did
not commence its campaign by getting control of one of the glands, for they
are expressions of the vital body; nor was it possible to get control of the
voluntary muscles, for they are too well garrisoned by the enemy. That part
of the involuntary muscular system which is controlled by the sympathetic
nervous system would also be useless for the purpose. It must get into a
more direct touch with the cerebro-spinal nervous system. To do this, and
secure a base of operations in the enemy's country, it must control a muscle
[PAGE 2263]
which is involuntary, and yet connected with the voluntary nervous system.
Such a muscle is the heart.
We have previously spoken of the two kinds of muscles--voluntary and in-
voluntary. The latter are formed in lengthwise stripes and are connected
with functions not under the control of the will, such as digestion, respi-
ration, excretion, etc. The voluntary muscles are those which are con-
trolled by the will through the voluntary nervous system, such as the
muscles of the hand and arm. They are striped BOTH lengthwise and cross-
wise.
The above is true of all muscles in the body EXCEPT THE HEART, which is
an involuntary muscle. Ordinarily, we cannot control the circulation. Un-
der normal conditions the heart-beat is a fixed quantity, yet to the bewil-
derment of physiologists, the heart is CROSS-striped like a voluntary
muscle. It is the only organ in the body exhibiting this peculiarity but,
sphinx-like, it refuses to give material scientists an answer to the riddle.
The occult scientist easily finds the answer in the memory of nature.
From that record he learns that when the Ego first sought a stronghold in
the heart, the latter was striped lengthwise only, the same as any other in-
voluntary muscle; but as the Ego gained more and more control over the
heart, the cross-stripes have gradually developed. They are not so numerous
nor so well defined as on the muscles under the full control of the desire
body, but as the altruistic principles of love and brotherhood increase in
strength and gradually overrule the reason, which is based in desire, so
will these cross stripes become more numerous and more marked.
As previously stated, the seed-atom of the dense body is located in the
heart during life and withdrawn only at death. The active work of the Ego
is in the blood. Now, if we except the lungs, the heart is the only organ
[PAGE 2264]
in the body through which all the blood passes in every cycle.
The blood is the highest expression of the vital body, for it nourishes
the entire physical organism. It is also, in a sense, the vehicle of the
subconscious memory, and in touch with the Memory of Nature, situated in
the highest division of the Etheric Region. The blood carries the pictures
of life from ancestors to descendants for generations, where there is a com-
mon blood, as produced by inbreeding.
There are in the head three points, each of which is the particular seat
of one of the three aspects of the spirit (See diagram 17), the second and
third aspects having, in addition, secondary vantage grounds.
The desire body is the perverted expression of the Ego. It converts the
"Selfhood" of the spirit into "selfishness." Selfhood seeks not its own at
the expense of others. Selfishness seeks gain regardless of others. The
seat of the human spirit is primarily in the pineal gland and secondarily in
the brain and cerebro-spinal nervous system, which controls the voluntary
muscles.
The love and unity in the World of the Life Spirit find their illusory
counterpart in the Etheric Region, to which we are correlated by the vital
body, which latter promotes sex love and sex union. The life spirit has its
seat primarily in the pituitary body and secondarily in the heart, which is
the gateway of the blood that nourishes the muscles.
The actionless Divine Spirit--The Silent Watcher--finds its material ex-
pression in the passive, inert and irresponsive skeleton of the dense body,
which is the obedient instrument of other bodies, but has no power to act on
its own initiative. The Divine Spirit has its strong hold in the impen-
etrable point at the root of the nose.
[PAGE 2265]
In reality there is but one spirit, the Ego, but looking at it from the
Physical World, it is refracted into the three aspects, which work as
stated.
As the blood passes through the heart, cycle after cycle, hour after hour
all through life, it engraves the pictures it carries upon the seed-atoms
while they are still fresh, thus making a faithful record of the life which
is indelibly impressed on the soul in the POST MORTEM existence, It is
always in closest touch with the life spirit, the spirit of love and unity,
therefore the heart is the home of altruistic love.
As these pictures pass inward to the World of Life Spirit, in which is
the true memory of nature, they do not come through the slow physical
senses, but directly through the fourth ether contained in the air we
breathe. In the World of Life Spirit the life spirit sees much more clearly
than it can in the denser Worlds. In its high home it is in touch with the
Cosmic Wisdom and in any situation it knows at once what to do and flashes
the message of guidance and proper action back to the heart, which as in-
stantaneously flashes it on the the brain through the medium of the
pneumo-gastric nerve, resulting in "first impressions"--the intuitional im-
pulse, which is always good, because it is drawn directly from the fountain
of Cosmic Wisdom and Love.
This is all done so quickly that the heart has control before the slower
reason has had time to "take in the situation," as it were. It is the
thought that man "thinketh in his heart," and it is true that "so is he."
Man is inherently a virgin spirit, good, noble and true in every respect.
All that is not good is from the lower nature, that illusory reflection of
the Ego. The virgin spirit is always giving wise counsel. If we could only
[PAGE 2266]
follow the impulses of the heart--the first thought--Universal Brotherhood
would be realized here and now.
But that is just the point where the trouble begins. After the good
counsel of the first thought has been given, the mind begins to reason, with
the result that, in the great majority of cases, it dominates the heart.
The telescope arranges its own focus and points where it lists, despite the
astronomer. The mind and the desire body frustrate the designs of the
spirit by taking control and, as they lack the spirit's wisdom, both spirit
and body suffer.
Physiologists note that certain areas of the brain are devoted to par-
ticular thought activities and phrenologist have carried this branch of sci-
ence still further. Now, it is known that thought breaks down and destroys
nerve tissues. This and all other waste of the body, is replaced by the
blood. When, through the development of the heart into a voluntary muscle,
the circulation of the blood finally passes under the absolute control of
the unifying life spirit--the Spirit of Love--it will then be within the
power of that spirit to withhold the blood from those areas of the brain de-
voted to selfish purposes. As a result, those particular thought centers
will gradually atrophy.
On the other hand, it will be possible for the spirit to increase the
blood supply when the mental activities are altruistic, and thus build up
the areas devoted to altruism, so that, in time, the desire nature will be
conquered and the mind emancipated by Love from its bondage to desire. It
is only by complete emancipation, through Love, that man can ruse above the
law and become a law unto himself. Having conquered himself, he will have
conquered all the World.
The cross stripes of the heart may be built by certain exercises under
occult training, but as some of these exercises are dangerous, they should
[PAGE 2267]
be undertaken only under the direction of a competent teacher. That no
reader of this book may be deceived by imposters professing ability and
willingness to so train aspirants for a consideration, it is emphatically
repeated that NO TRUE OCCULTIST EVER BOASTS, ADVERTISES HIS OCCULT POWER,
SELLS OCCULT INFORMATION OR LESSONS AT SO MUCH EACH OR FOR A COURSE; NOR
WILL BE CONSENT TO A THEATRICAL DISPLAY. HIS WORK IS DONE IN THE MOST
UNOBTRUSIVE MANNER POSSIBLE AND SOLELY FOR THE PURPOSE OF LEGITIMATELY HELP-
ING OTHERS, WITHOUT THOUGHT OF SELF.
As said in the beginning of this chapter, all persons earnestly desiring
the higher knowledge may rest assured that if they will but seek, they will
find the way open for them. Christ Himself prepared the way for "whosoever
will." He will help and welcome all real seekers, who are willing to work
for Universal Brotherhood.
THE MYSTERY OF GOLGOTHA:
During the last 2,000 years much has been said about "the cleansing
blood." The blood of Christ has been extolled from the pulpit as the sover-
eign remedy for sin; the ONLY means of redemption and salvation.
But if the laws of Rebirth and Consequence work in such a way that the
evolving beings reap as they have sown, and if the evolutionary impulse is
constantly bring humanity higher and higher, ultimately to attain
perfection--where then is the need for redemption and salvation? Even if
the need existed, how can the death of one individual help the rest? Would
it not be nobler to suffer the consequences of one's acts than to hide be-
hind another? These are some of the objections to the doctrine of vicarious
atonement and redemption by the blood of Christ Jesus. We will try to
[PAGE 2268]
answer them before showing the logical harmony between the operation of the
law of Consequence and the Atonement by Christ.
In the first place, it is absolutely true that the evolutionary impulse
does work to achieve ultimate perfection for all; yet there are some who are
constantly straggling behind. At the present time, we have just passed the
extreme point of materiality and are going through the sixteen Races. We
are treading "the sixteen paths to destruction," and are consequently in
graver danger of falling behind than at any other part of the evolutionary
journey.
In the abstract, time is nothing. A number may fall behind so far that
they must be abandoned, to take up their further evolution in another
scheme, where they can continue their journey to perfection. Nevertheless
that was not the evolution originally designed for them and it is reasonable
to suppose that the exalted Intelligences in charge of our evolution use ev-
ery means to bring through in safety as many as possible of the entities un-
der their charge.
In ordinary evolution, the laws of Rebirth and Consequence are perfectly
adequate for bringing the major portion of the life wave up to perfection,
but they do not suffice in the case of the stragglers, who are lagging be-
hind in the various Races. During the stage of individualism, which is the
climax of the illusion of separateness, all mankind needs extra help, but
for the stragglers some additional special aid must be provided.
To give that special aid, to redeem the stragglers, was the mission of
Christ. He said that He came to seek and to save that which was lost. He
opened the way of Initiation for all who are willing to seek it.
Objectors to vicarious atonement urge: That it is cowardly to hide
[PAGE 2269]
behind another; that each man should be willing to take the consequence of
his acts.
Let us consider an analogous case. The waters of the Great Lakes narrow
into the Niagara River. For twenty miles this enormous volume of water
flows rapidly toward the falls. The river bed is filled with rocks and if a
person who goes beyond a certain point does not lose his life in the rapids
above the cataract, he will surely do so by the plunge over the brink.
Suppose a man appeared who, in pity for the victims of the current,
placed a rope above the cataract, although he knew that the conditions were
such that in doing so, he himself could not by any possible chance escape
death. Yet gladly and of his own free will, he sacrificed his life and
placed the rope, thus modifying former conditions so that any otherwise
helpless victims who would grasp the rope would be saved and thenceforward
none need be lost.
What would we think of a man who had fallen into the water through his
own carelessness, and was struggling madly to reach the shore, if he should
say: "What! Save myself and seek to avoid penalty of my carelessness by
shielding myself behind the strength of another, who suffered through no
fault of his own, and gave up his life that such as I might live? No,
never! That would not be "manly." I will take my deserts!" Would we not
all agree that the man was a fool?
Not all are in need of salvation. Christ knew that there is a very large
class who do not require salvation in this way, but just as surely as there
are the ninety-and-nine who are well taken care of by the laws of Rebirth
and Consequence and will reach perfection in that way, so there are the
"sinners" who have become "bogged" in matter and cannot escape without a
[PAGE 2270]
rope. Christ came to save them and to bring peace and good will to all, by
raising them to the necessary point of spirituality, causing a change in
their desire bodies which will make the influence of the life spirit in the
heart more potent.
His younger brother Sun spirits, the Archangels, had worked as
Race-spirits on the desire bodies of man, but their work had been from WITH-
OUT. It was simply a reflected spiritual Sun-force and came through the
Moon--as moonlight is reflected sunlight. Christ, the Chief Initiate of the
Sun spirits, entered directly into the dense body of the Earth and brought
the direct Sun-force, thus enabling Him to influence over desire bodies from
WITHIN.
Man cannot gaze long upon the Sun without becoming blind because its vi-
brations are so rapid that they destroy the retina of the eye. But he can
look without harmful results upon the Moon, the vibrations from which are
much slower; yet they are also sunlight, but the higher vibrations have been
taken up by the Moon, which then reflects the residue to us.
So it is with the spiritual impulses which help man to evolve. The rea-
son why the Earth was thrown off from the Sun was because our humanity could
not endure the Sun's tremendous physical and spiritual impulses. Even after
an enormous distance had been placed between the Earth and Sun, the
spiritual impulse would still have been too strong had it not been sent
first to the Moon, to be used by Jehovah, the Regent of the Moon, for man's
benefit. A number of Archangels (ordinary Sun spirits) were given Jehovah
as helpers in reflecting these spiritual impulses from the Sun upon the hu-
manity of the Earth, in the form of Jehovistic or Race-religions.
The lowest vehicle of the Archangels is the desire body. Our desire body
was added in the Moon Period, at which time Jehovah was the highest
[PAGE 2271]
Initiate. Therefore Jehovah is able to deal with man's desire body.
Jehovah's lowest vehicle is the human spirit (see diagram 14) and its coun-
terpart is the desire body. The Archangels are His helpers because they are
able to manage the spiritual Sun forces and the desire body is their lowest
vehicle. Thus they are able to work with and prepare humanity for the time
when it can receive the spiritual impulses directly from the Solar Orb,
without the intervention of the Moon.
Upon Christ, as the highest Initiate of the Sun Period, is laid the task
of sending out this impulse. The impulse which Jehovah reflected was sent
out by Christ, Who thus prepared both the Earth and humanity for His direct
ingress.
The expression, "prepared the Earth," means that all evolution on a
planet is accompanied by the evolution of THAT PLANET ITSELF. Had some ob-
server gifted with spiritual sight watched the evolution of our Earth from
some distant star, he would have noticed a gradual change taking place in
the Earth's desire body.
Under the old dispensation the desire bodies of people in general were
improved by means of the law. This work is still going on in the majority
of people, who are thus preparing themselves for the higher life.
The higher life (Initiation) does not commence, however, until the work
on the vital body begins. The means used for bringing that into activity is
Love, or rather Altruism. The former word has been so abused that it no
longer conveys the meaning here required.
During the old dispensation the path of Initiation was not free and open,
except to the chosen few. The Hierophants of the Mysteries collected cer-
tain families about the Temples, setting them apart from all the other
[PAGE 2272]
people. These chosen families were then rigorously guarded as to certain
rites and ceremonies. Their marriages and sexual intercourse were regulated
by the Hierophants.
The effect of this was to produce a race having the proper degree of lax-
ity between the dense and vital bodies; also to wake the desire body from
its state of lethargy during sleep. Thus a special few were made fit for
Initiation and were given opportunities that could not be given to all. We
see instances of this method among the Jews, where the tribe of Levi were
the chosen Templars; also in the caste of the Brahmins, who were the only
priestly class among the Hindus.
The Mission of Christ, in addition to saving the lost, was to make Ini-
tiation possible to all, therefore Jesus was not a Levite of the class to
which priesthood came by inheritance. He came from the common people and
though not of the teacher class, His teaching was higher than that of Moses.
Christ Jesus did not deny Moses, the law, nor the prophets. On the con-
trary, He acknowledged them all and showed the people that they were His
witnesses, as they all pointed to One Who was to come. He told the people
that those things had served their purpose and that henceforth Love must su-
persede Law.
Christ Jesus was killed. In connection with this fact, we come to the
supreme and fundamental difference between Him and the previous teachers, in
whom the Race spirits were born. They all died and must be reborn again and
again to help their peoples bear their destiny. The Archangel Michael (the
Race-spirit of the Jews) raised up Moses, who was taken up to Mount Nebo to
die. He was reborn as Elijah. Elijah returned as John the Baptist; Buddha
died and was reborn as Shankaracharya; Shri Krishna says, "Whenever there is
[PAGE 2273]
decay of Dharma. . .and. . .exaltation of Adharma, then I myself come forth
for the protection of the good, for the destruction of evil-doers, for the
sake of firmly establishing Dharma. I am born from age to age."
When death came Moses' face SHONE and Buddha's body become ALIGHT. They
all reached the stage when the spirit begins to shine from within--but then
they died.
Christ Jesus reached that stage on the Mount of Transfiguration. It is
of the very highest significance that HIS REAL WORK TOOK PLACE SUBSEQUENT TO
THAT EVENT. He suffered; was KILLED--and RESURRECTED.
Being killed is a very different thing from dying. The blood that had
been the vehicle of the Race-spirit must FLOW and be cleansed of that con-
taminating influence. Love of father and mother, exclusive of other fathers
and mothers, must go--otherwise Universal Brotherhood and an all-embracing
Altruistic Love could never become an actuality.
THE CLEANSING BLOOD:
When the Savior Christ Jesus was crucified His body was pierced in five
places; in the five centers where the currents of the vital body flow; and
the pressure of the crown of thorns caused a flow from the sixth also.
(This is a hint to those who already know these currents. A full elucida-
tion of this matter cannot be publicly given out at this time.)
When the blood flowed from these centers, the great Sun-spirit Christ was
liberated from the physical vehicle of Jesus and found Himself IN THE EARTH,
with individual vehicles. The already existing planetary vehicles He perme-
ated with His own vehicles and, in the twinkling of an eye, diffused His own
[PAGE 2274]
desire body over the planet, which has enabled Him thenceforth to work upon
the Earth and its humanity from WITHIN.
At that moment a tremendous wave of spiritual sunlight flooded the Earth.
It rent the veil which the Race-spirit had hung before the Temple to keep
out all but the chosen few, and it made the Path of Initiation free thence-
forth to whomsoever will. So far as concerned the Spiritual Worlds, this
wave transformed the conditions of the Earth like a flash of lightning, but
the dense, concrete conditions are, of course, much more slowly affected.
Like all rapid and high vibrations of light, this great wave blinded the
people by its dazzling brilliance, therefore it was said that "the Sun was
darkened." The very opposite was what actually occurred. The Sun was not
darkened, but shone out in glorious splendor. It was the excess of light
that blinded the people, and only as the entire Earth absorbed the desire
body of the bright Sun-spirit did the vibration return to a more normal
rate.
The expression, "the cleansing blood of Christ Jesus," means that as the
blood flowed on Calvary, it bore with it the great Sun-spirit Christ, Who by
that means secured admission to the earth itself and since that moment has
been its Regent. He diffused His own desire body throughout the planet,
thereby cleansing it from all the vile influences which had grown up under
the REGIME of the Race-spirit.
Under the law all sinned; nay, more--they could not help it. They had
not evolved to where they could do right for Love's sake. The desire nature
was so strong that it was an impossibility for them to rule it altogether,
therefore their debts, engendered under the law of Consequence, piled up to
monstrous proportions. Evolution would have been terribly delayed and many
[PAGE 2275]
lost to our life wave altogether it some help had not been given.
Therefore did Christ come "to seek and to save that which was lost." He
took away the sin of the world by His cleansing blood, which gave Him en-
trance to the Earth and its humanity. He purified the conditions and we owe
it to Him that we are able to gather for our desire bodies purer
desire-stuff than formerly, and He continues working to help us, by making
our external environment constantly purer.
That this was and is done at the expense of great suffering to Himself,
no one can doubt who is able to form the least conception of the limitations
endured by that Great Spirit in entering the hampering conditions of
physical existence, even in the best and purest vehicle possible; nor is His
present limitation as Regent of the Earth must less painful. True, He is
also Regent of the Sun, and therefore only partially confined to the Earth,
yet the limitations set by the crampingly slow vibrations of our dense
planet must be almost endurable.
Had Christ Jesus simply died, it would have been impossible for Him to
have done this work, but the Christians have a RISEN Savior; One Who is ever
present to help those who call upon His Name. Having suffered like unto
ourselves in all things and knowing fully our needs, He is lenient toward
our mistakes and failures so long as we continue trying to live the good
life. We must ever keep before our eyes the fact that THE ONLY REAL FAILURE
IS CEASING TO TRY.
Upon the death of the dense body of Christ Jesus, the seedatom was re-
turned to the original owner, Jesus of Nazareth, who for some time after-
ward, while functioning in a vital body which he had gathered temporarily,
[PAGE 2276]
taught the nucleus of the new faith which Christ had left behind. Jesus of
Nazareth has since had the guidance of the esoteric branches which sprang up
all over Europe.
In many placed the Knights of the Round Table were high Initiates in the
Mysteries of the New Dispensation. So were the Knights of The Grail--to
whom was finally confided Joseph of Arimathea's Grail Cup, which was used by
Christ Jesus at The Last Supper. They were afterward entrusted also with
the Lance which pierced His side, and the receptacle which received the
blood from the wound.
The Druids of Ireland the Trottes of Northern Russia were esoteric
schools through which the Master Jesus worked during the so-called "Dark
Ages," but, dark though they were, the spiritual impulse spread, and from
the standpoint of the occult scientist they were "Bright Ages" compared to
the growing materialism of the last 300 years, which has increased physical
knowledge immensely, but has almost extinguished the Light of the Spirit.
Tales of "The Grail," "Knights of The Round Table," etc., are now scouted
as superstitions and all that cannot be materially demonstrated is regarded
as unworthy of belief. Glorious as are the discoveries of modern science,
they have been bought at the terrible price of crushing the spiritual intu-
ition and, from a spiritual standpoint, no darker day than the present has
ever dawned.
The Elder Brothers, Jesus among them, have striven and are striving to
counteract this terrible influence, which is like that in the eyes of the
snake, causing the bird to fall into its jaws. Every attempt to enlighten
people and awaken in them a desire to cultivate the spiritual side of life,
is an evidence of the activity of the Elder Brothers.
[PAGE 2277]
May their efforts be crowned with success and speed the day when modern
science shall be spiritualized and conduct its investigation of matter from
the standpoint of spirit, for them, and not until then, will it arrive at a
true knowledge of the world.
"AS ABOVE, SO BELOW":
|
|
GOD |
/--------\ /--------\ | NEGATIVE POSITIVE
| <> | | *
\--------/ | \--------/ | |
| | |
|-* | *-| | |----------|--------|
Saturn | | | Vulcan | | Group 1 | Group 2|
Period |-------|-----|-| Period | |----------|--------|-|G.3
|-----|-----| | | |--------|--------| |
| | | | | | |G.4
| | | | | | |
Venus |-|-----|-------| Sun | G.3 |-|--------|----------|G.5
Period | |-----|-----| Period | | |--------|--------|
| | | | G.4 | | |
| | | | | | |
Moon |-------|-----|-| Jupiter | G.5 |----------|--------|-| G.6
Period |-----|-----| | Period | |--------|--------| |
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
|-|-----|-------| | G.6 |-|--------|----------|G.7
Earth | |-----|-----| Period | | |--------|--------|
| | | | | | |
Mercury | | | Mars | | | |
Half |-- | --| Half | G.7 |----------|-- |
| | | |
| | ---|--------|
|
|
-------------------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|
GROUP NO. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
-------------------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|
COMBINING CAPACITY | R2O | R O | R2O3 | R O2 | R H3 | R H2 | R H |
| | | | R M4 | R2O5 | R O3 | R2O7 |
-------------------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|
ATOMIC WEIGHT | LI.7 | GL.9 | B.10.9| C.12 | N.14 | O.16 | FL.19 |
-------------------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|
DENSITY | Na | Mg | Al | Si | S | P | Ce |
| 0.97 | 1.75 | 2.49 | 2.65 | 2.06 | 1.84 | 1.38 |
-------------------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|
The world, the man, and the atom are governed by the same law. Our dense
earth is now in its 4th stage of consolidation. The mind, the desire body,
and the vital body are less solid than our 4th vehicle, the dense body. In
the atomic weight of the chemical elements there is a similar arrangement.
The 4th group marks the acme of density.
[PAGE 2278]
FUTURE DEVELOPMENT AND INITIATION:
THE SEVEN DAYS OF CREATION:
The Rosicrucian speaks of the Earth Period as Mars-Mercury. The great
creative Day of Manifestation is embodied in the names of the days of the
week, for our week-days have been named after the evolutionary stages
through which the virgin spirits pass in their pilgrimage through matter.
DAY: CORRESPONDS TO THE: IS RULED BY:
Saturday............... Saturn Period.......................... Saturn
Sunday................. Sun Period............................. The Sun
Monday................. Moon Period............................ The Moon
Tuesday................ First half of the Earth Period......... Mars
Wednesday.............. Second half of the Earth Period........ Mercury
Thursday............... Jupiter Period......................... Jupiter
Friday................. Venus Period........................... Venus
The Vulcan Period is the last Period of our scheme of evolution. The quin-
tessence of all the preceding Periods is extracted by the recapitulation of
spiral after spiral. No new work is done until the very last Revolution on
the very last Globe and then only in the Seventh Epoch. Therefore the
Vulcan Period may be said to correspond to the week, which includes all of
the seven days.
The claim of astrologers that the days of the week are ruled by the par-
ticular planet for which they are named, is well-founded. The ancients were
also familiar with this occult knowledge, as is shown in their mythologies,
[PAGE 2279]
in which the names of the gods are associated with the days of the week.
Saturday is plainly "Saturn's day"; Sunday is correlated to the Sun, and
Monday to the Moon. The Latins call Tuesday "Dies Martis," which obviously
shows its connection with Mars, the god of war. The name "Tuesday" is de-
rived from "Tirsdag," "Tir" or "Tyr," being the name of the Norse god of
war. "Wednesday" was "Wotensdag," from Woten, also a Norse god; it is
called "Dies Mercurii" by the Latins, showing its association with Mercury,
as given in our list.
Thursday, or "Thorsdag," is named for "Thor," the Norse god of thunder,
and is called "Dies Jovis" by the Latins, after the thunder god, "Jove" or
"Jupiter."
Friday is named for the Norse goddess of beauty, "Freya," and for similar
reasons, the Latins call it "Dies Veneris," or Day of Venus.
THESE NAMES OF PERIODS HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THE PHYSICAL PLANETS, BUT
REFER TO PAST, PRESENT OR FUTURE INCARNATIONS OF THE EARTH; for, again ap-
plying the Hermetic axiom, "As above, so below,: the macrocosm must have its
incarnations as well as the microcosm, man.
Occult science teaches that there are 777 incarnations, but that does not
mean that the Earth undergoes 777 metamorphoses. It means that evolving
life makes
7 Revolutions around the
7 Globes of the
7 World Periods.
This pilgrimage of Involution and Evolution, including the "short cut" of
Initiation, is embodied in the Caduceus, or "Staff of Mercury" (see Diagram
15), so called because this occult symbol indicates The Pat of Initiation,
which has been open to man only since the beginning of the Mercury half of
the Earth Period. Some of the lesser mysteries were given to the earlier
[PAGE 2280]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
DIAGRAM 15:
THE SEVEN DAYS OF CREATION AND THE FOUR GREAT INITIATIONS:
Ordinary Humanity pursues the spiral path
The Initiate goes the straight and narrow way that leads....
TO
GOD
/--------------------------\ * /--------------------------\
--|--
\--------------------------/ | \--------------------------/
|[4]
|--* | *--|
1 | /|\ | 7
SATURN PERIOD \|/ | /|\ VULCAN PERIOD
[Saturday] | | | THE WEEK
VIOLET |--->---->---->|---->---->--|-| [Embracing All
|--->----->--|-->---->----| | The Days]
| /|\ \|/ WHITE
/|\ | | [Including All
|-|---->----|->----->----|-| [Sunday]
RED |----->---->-|---->---->--| | INDIGO
/|\ | \|/
3 | |[2] | 5
MOON PERIOD |-|---------->------>-------|-|
EARTH-- |->------>---|-->------>--| | --PERIOD
MERCURY HALF /|\ |[1] \|/ MARS HALF
[Wednesday] |--< /|\